1. Field of the Present Invention
This invention relates to a connector, and more particularly to a connector with a joint terminal, which is used, for example, for a wire harness in an automobile, or is used for connecting wires of various electronic equipments.
2. Background of the Related Art
One conventional connector includes a joint terminal as shown in FIG. 9 or as disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 6-36817. FIG. 9(a) is a bottom view of such a joint terminal, FIG. 9(b) is a side-elevational view thereof, and FIG. 9(c) is a front-elevational view thereof. As shown in FIG. 9, this joint terminal 1 includes parallel, adjacent terminal portions 4 each having a contact portion 2 and a wire connection portion 3, and an interconnecting portion 5 (which is in the form of a flat plate) interconnecting the two terminal portions 4 in an electrically-conductive manner at their central portions each disposed between the contact portion 2 and the wire connection portion 3.
Such a joint terminal 1 is previously formed, for example, by punching into an integral, multiple connected construction having a plurality of terminal portions 4 interconnected by the interconnecting portion or portions 5, and in accordance with a required circuit construction, this integral structure is cut at those portions indicated in chain lines in FIG. 9(a), and by doing so, a single-terminal joint terminal, a double-terminal joint terminal or a triple-terminal joint terminal can be formed.
However, when such a conventional joint terminal having the plurality of terminal portions 4 and single terminal portion 4 formed by cutting the joint terminal are to be provided in a mixed manner in a housing of a connector, it has been necessary to prepare a housings of a special design, having those portions where cavity walls are formed and those portions where no such cavity wall is formed, depending on the wiring circuit construction, since the joint terminal has the interconnecting portion 5 formed between the terminal portions 4, so that a cavity wall, separating these terminal portions from each other, can not be formed. Thus, it has been necessary to mold the various housings so as to meet the various joint circuits, and therefore there have been encountered problems that the cost for molds of the housings increases, and that it is necessary to manage the storage of the various housings.
And besides, in the above joint terminal, the terminal portions 4 are interconnected merely by the thin interconnecting portion 5, and therefore the terminal itself has a low strength, and the terminal portions 4 are liable to be twisted or bent with respect to each other. When this joint terminal is received in the housing, the joint terminal is liable to be shaken, and it has been difficult to connect the joint terminal to the housing in an integral manner. As a result, the distal end portion of the terminal is liable to be lifted off the inner surface of the housing, and therefore there have been encountered problems that the wire connection is unstable and that the wire connecting operation is complicated.